Tornado damage is mostly the result of powerful winds. Tornadic winds can easily exceed 100 mph and have been recorded in excess of 300 mph. The force of such wind can damage if not destroy buildings and trees.
The eye of a tornado itself most likely does not do damage as radar analysis and eyewitness testimony show that they eye of a tornado is calm like the eye of a hurricane. The wind and debris surrounding the eye is what causes damage.
The largest tornado even recorded caused about $160 million dollars in damage, but keep in mind this wasn't the most damaging tornado or the strongest. The tornado with the strongest recorded winds caused $1 billion in damage (about $1.3 billion in today's dollars). The most damaging tornado recorded caused the equivalent of $1.7 billion in today's dollars.
The Fujita scale uses the severity of the damage a tornado causes to determine its rating.
Subvortices are smaller vortices, almost like mini tornadoes, within the main vortex of a tornado. These subvortices have stronger winds than the main vortex, and result in a tornado with a continuous damage path with intermittent areas of more severe damage.
It can. Hail often does come before a tornado, but most storms that produce hail do not produce tornadoes.
Most damage in a tornado is caused by the extremely fast winds.
it depends on the tornado damage
The longest tornado damage path on record is 219 miles.
Unfortunately there is no way to prevent tornado damage, but it can be reduced with improved building standards.
The greatest amount of damage in a tornado is caused by extremely strong winds. Additional damage is from flying debris.
No, this myth originated by people under the impression that allowing the pressure to equalize as a tornado passes would reduce the damage. In reality, the difference in pressure between the center of a tornado and elsewhere is not great enough to do much damage, and opening windows will allow the wind to come in and do much more damage than it would otherwise be able to.
There was significant tornado damage in and around Logansport IN in 1965. The 2011 tornado there resulted in no deaths or injuries. See link below.
The cost of damage from the Manchester, South Dakota tornado of 2003 was $3 million.
The tornado itself brings damage to property and vegetation ranging from minor damage to complete devastation. This damage can be accompanied by injuries and death.
Tornado damage has traditionally been rated on the Fujita scale. However, the United States and Canada now rate tornado damage on the similar Enhanced Fujita scale.
People can limit tornado damage by building home to higher construction standards.
The rating on the Fujita or F scale of a tornado is determined by the severity of the damage it causes. Different levels of tornado have different levels of damage severity, ranging from the minor damage of an F0 tornado the the total destruction of an F5.